A 90-year-old man arrives at a polling booth in Sardarpura of Jodhpur. ANI

Our Correspondent
Jaipur, December 7

About 73.64 per cent of the 4.74 crore registered voters cast their vote in Rajasthan where elections were held on Friday for 199 of the 200 Assembly seats.

The elections were largely peaceful barring a few sporadic incidents of violence.

"This is a tentative polling percentage. It would be finalised later tonight," Chief Election Officer Anand Kumar told a press conference here.

Pokhran recorded the highest voting at 86.60 per cent, followed by Nimbahera 84.76 per cent, Manohar Thana 84.22 per cent, and Pilibanga 84.02 per cent. Jalore recorded the lowest at 59.91 per cent.

“This is the tentative polling percentage and would be finalised later tonight,” a Chief Election Office spokesman said.

Congress claimed it had received complaints about 400 non-functional EVMs. They were reported to the Chief Election Officer.

AICC General Secretary Avinash Pandey accused BJP supporters of booth capturing and violence at 160 places. Poll-related violence was reported from Bharatpur, Dausa, Bikaner and Barmer districts, a poll official said. A vehicle cop was set on fire at Bikaner’s Jaggasar around 8 am, a cop of Bajju Thana told The Tribune.

At least five people were wounded in violent clashes between two political parties after voting ended in Lathi, which comes under Jaisalmer Assembly segment. A vehicle and two shops were set on fire, Special DG Law & Order N R K Reddy told The Tribune.

Police rushed personnel to the place, Reddy said, adding that they were still awaiting a detailed report of the incident.

Independent candidate Om Prakash Hudla was also manhandled by supporters of a party in Mahava. One person was stabbed during polling at Nagar in Bharatpur district on Friday morning.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and veteran Congress leader Ashok Gehlot cast their votes in their constituencies—Jhalarapatan and Sardarpura seat in Jodhpur city. Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot cast his vote at Jaipur's Jalupura booth in the forenoon, and BJP state president Madan Lal Saini went to his is hometown of Sikar for voting.

Some 75.04 per cent of the state's electorate had cast their ballots in 2013 assembly elections.

As many as 51,687 polling booths have been set up in 199 out of the total 200 assembly constituencies where polling is going on amid tight security.

A senior police officer said polling was going on peacefully and elaborate security arrangements are in place.

Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sachin Pilot and other leaders were among those who exercised their franchise.

Raje (Jhalrapatan), Pilot (Tonk) and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray.

The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh.

The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks.

Raje, who is the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, is fighting against veteran BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh in Jhalrapatan, the constituency she has represented since 2003.

Manvendra Singh switched to the Congress just before the election, making the fight tougher for Raje this time. She had won 63 per cent of the votes cast in 2013, winning the seat by a margin of 60,896.

Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is a keenly-watched contest between Sachin Pilot and BJP candidate and Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, who is the saffron party’s only Muslim face in the elections.

The BJP had initially fielded sitting MLA Ajit Singh Mehta in Tonk. But in a change of strategy, the party dropped him and sent Khan to take on Pilot.

This is a maiden assembly election for Pilot, a two-time MP who is seen as a chief ministerial possibility if the Congress wins. He has represented Dausa and Ajmer Lok Sabha constituencies in the past.

In about 130 constituencies, the contest appears to be mainly between the BJP and the Congress.

In the current 200-member House, the BJP has 159 MLAs, while Congress 25, NPP 4, NUJDP 2, BSP 3 and Independents 7. With PTI

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